Arras Cathedral
The present cathedral is the former abbey church of the abbey of Saint-Vaast (whose origins date back to the 7th century). In the Middle Ages, Arras was the largest and richest city of Artois. It was built in the 18th century as the abbey church of Saint-Vaast Abbey and became a cathedral in 1848, replacing the old cathedral Notre-Dame-en-Cité d'Arras, the great Gothic cathedral in the west of the old town that had been destroyed during the French Revolution.
About this building
The church is built according to a traditional plan in the shape of a Latin cross, forming a large vessel 102 metres long, which consists of a vast nave (26 metres wide counting the side aisles) made up of six bays, a transept and then a choir consisting of 4 bays. This ensemble is flanked by side aisles separated by colossal Corinthian columns that form the sole support for a large projecting entablature that runs all the way around the building at the halfway point of the vessel. This entablature in turn supports a very high window-pane pierced by large windows which, added to the windows of the side aisles, provide great luminosity to the building.
